READING 1



READING 9

The Nature and Predictors of the Trajectory of Change in Marital Quality for Husbands and Wives Over the First 10 Years of Marriage by Kurdek (1999)

Please refer to the printed reader, Readings in Social Psychology 3/e, for the text of this article.

Overview

At some point in their lives, most people enjoy an intimate romantic relationship, many get married, and some get divorced. How do intimate relationships progress over time? Is there a typical developmental pattern? Clearly, all marriages are different and cannot be squeezed into single mold. But recent studies show that some general patterns do emerge when large numbers of marital partners are periodically surveyed about their satisfaction. Recently, Kurdek (1999) reported on a longitudinal study of married couples in which he measured each partner’s level of satisfaction every year for ten years. How did he measure satisfaction and what did he find? Is marriage an extended honeymoon? Do married couples in general become more satisfied over time, or less satisfied, or is there an uneven pattern of change? In the following article, Kurdek sought to answer these questions while, at the same time, noting that everyone is different and that no two marriages are alike.

Critical Thinking Questions

1. Kurdek suggests several ways in which his study differs from other research that has examined marital satisfaction over time. Describe three specific ways in which the methodology of this study improves on previous research.

2. Kurdek reports that of the close to 8,000 couples receiving a letter about the study, 18% expressed an interest in participating, and only 38% of those couples returned the survey in Year 1. What are the implications of these participation rates when it comes to interpreting the present findings? In other words, how do these rates complicate the effort to draw conclusions about marital satisfaction in the population at large?

3. How would you summarize the main findings of this study regarding the trajectory of marital satisfaction over the course of 10 years? What explanation(s) can you give for this pattern?

4. How would you summarize the main findings of this study regarding gender differences in marital satisfaction over time? Chapter 9 discusses evolutionary and sociocultural perspectives in studying relationship preferences and behavior—are either of these perspectives helpful in explaining the present gender effects?

5. How would you summarize the main findings of this study regarding the influence of having children (biological and step) on marital satisfaction? How would you explain these results?

6. How does the present discussion of marital satisfaction relate to Chapter 14’s analysis of adaptation-level theory?

Links For Further Investigation

As Kurdek relates, 90% of Americans are married by the age of 45. Therefore, marital satisfaction is a topic of great interest to psychologists as well as laypeople. For a detailed glimpse of one psychological measure of marital satisfaction, including a background article and a manual explaining how to use the scale, see . A less scientific look at assessing relationships can be found at . Take this on-line test for specific suggestions on how to improve your own relationship satisfaction.

For additional information on marriage, you can visit . This site offers frequently asked questions, advice, articles, and other links for people who are married or just thinking about taking the plunge. From wedding planning and being newlyweds to handling extramarital affairs and considering divorce, you can find information on almost any topic a couple might experience during the ups-and-downs of the marital trajectory.

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